Batter My Very Soul
by DiaVampireBait
Summary: Dear Mukami Kou (you kidnapping fuck). You are that type of anime character who would be awful enough to only be interested in a girl because she's the only not COMPLETELY and UTTERLY in love with you. Then you go ahead and bother her and harass her in a pathetic attempt to make her fall in love with you. Well, they do that pretty much every time, but I happen to hate you a lot.
1. Desperation

_**IT'S NOT URGENT OR SUPER-DUPER IMPORTANT THIS TIME, BUT I SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU READ MY SAKAMAKI PROLOGUE OR YOU MAY RISK NOT UNDERSTANDING SHIT. **_

_**Finally it has come to the time when I, Diavampirebait, start with the Mukami prologue. How many times is it now that I've been so eager to start? Oh yes, this is the 1000th time, that's right. Oh, and I've thought about something. As you probably figured out (or if you haven't, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DON'T READ THE SPOILER!), Yui is dead in my fan fictions. Which means that Mayu exists in the future, but I have no idea how far in or how the future looks like! So I've come to this, Mayu was not born long after Yui died and the future has barely changed. Maybe I'll do some changes on stuff, but I already have lots of planning and I want to get some fanservice for you guys too since this is rated M, so it won't be much. SORRY.**_

_**Anywhoo, let's begin.**_

_**RATED: T THROUGH IT ALL I MEAN IT'S JUST A PROLOGUE!**_

"16 years..." A dark voice muttered callous, viewing the rotting brown leaves on the wet ground. Today made it exactly 15 years ago since _**that **_happened. Spring, 16 years ago. "It's time to set our revenge into action." It continued, this time determined looking up against the dark, pale, moon, ready to serve justice in this rotten, dark, dying world.

They began to walk.

_**Mayu's P.O.V!**_

It had already been tree weeks since I got abducted by six rich young vampire brothers. Yes, apparently, they happen to be vampires – how original...And as my blood-sucking master, I picked Raito... WELL I'M SORRY IF I THOUGHT HE WAS KIND!? How would I've known that he was a perverted psychopath? Well, I didn't.

As a kidnapped new maid, I was going to be ordered around by Raito for some reason that I didn't quite understand. Reiji had said that if I'm going to stay in their household, I might as well do something useful. I didn't even want to stay! I hadn't come here willingly! I had been dragged across the street, damn it!

And why would the 'picking a master' even matter when Raito still isn't the only one telling me what to do, what to clean and how to clean it? At least he is the only one sucking my blood, and boy is he doing that often?

"Mmmnh... Haaaah... Bitch-chan~, your blood is tasty as usual today, nfufu! Hnnng...!"

He never stopped. Over, over and over again. It didn't matter if I kicked, punched or screamed – because he would just enjoy it more.

"Hey, nfufu, let me suck you some more, okay? We can do even more pleasurable things after, Bitch-chan~. Hmmng...! Haaaah..."

Of course, I hated myself for not fighting back even more. For just being so weak in front of someone. I usually never looked like that. Weak. Breathless. Pathetic. But even the strongest persons can be left, weakly lying in the dirt without no power to stand up. Raito taught me that. He _showed _that.

"Aaahh~! Fufufu, Bitch-chan! What's with that erotic face you're making? You want more? You just can't stand it, can you~?"

He thought of it as erotic. I thought of it as pained. But for Sakamaki Raito, that meant the same thing.

"I'll give you lots and lots of my love, Bitch-chan."

I just wanted to run away.

Far away.

Where he'd never find me.

Like a Christian meeting?

Anyway, at the times when Raito didn't interact and/or harass me, I tried my best to enjoy life... by cleaning my kidnappers mansion... Those times were called school days and occurred five days a week. Today was one of those days (I called them heaven-days since they were gloooorious) and I was polishing some statues on the second floor. They were shaped into little griffins sooooo gooood that it was hard to polish it perfectly as I'd been told by Reiji after I'd been told by Ayato to clean his disgusting basketball socks (and I swear to god, they were green with filth and sweat yuck). Who on earth even has basketball socks (not that I would know since I'm not into sports all that much)!? Anyway, if I didn't polish them perfectly, I'd get punished. So far, I had not received a punishment from Reiji and I would like to keep it like that. As I said earlier, they all boss me around.

Then suddenly (after nearly cutting my wrist on the griffins stupid beak ouch fuck) I saw the miracle walk in the entrance. The miracle consisted of four, young men opening the two heavy, brown doors without a problem. _Strong men. Rawwwr._

I quickly realized that I was going to be saved! I'd always thought that the one who would save me would be myself (that theory came second after a young, strong, handsome prince fighting the Sakamakis with a silver sword made of magic hnnnng!) escaping from the vampires all by myself. That I would be my own hero. But if I said that I was disappointed at the rescue over my own selfish dreams, I would be lying. I flew up to seventh heaven only at the thought that they were right downstairs.

That reminded me. Maybe I could find some really strong evidence to put those horrible guys in jail for the rest of their lives? Sure, it would kinda be a shame that everyone would know that vampires exist (not to mention the fear, panic, suicide and empty streets as soon as it turned dark), but I would expose them as vampires too! Maybe they'd get a death sentence? Not that I'd really care all that much, I mean, this is not Twilight vampires. These are the real shit and they are batshit crazy.

I quickly ran in the directions I thought lead to the main entrance. I still hadn't memorized the rooms and halls of the Sakamaki mansion, but I had to run into one of the men, I'm sure. I stunk though. It had been awhile since I last willingly stepped into that shower, and that was because Reiji forced me to (said that I smelled like something the cat brought and so on, ugh). Me smelling bad was due to Raito always fucking peeking at me.

Well, that didn't matter anymore, I was going to get saved.

_**Mukami P.O.V!**_

"It's been a while since last time." A pale boy, just as young and handsome as his three companions, murmured out, referring to the old mansion, with his regular flirty tone, though having hell itself luring in his one blood red eye. Together with both the other young men's eyes, his scanned the area from top to toe.

"There is no time for nostalgia, Kou." The same, dark voice as before gushed out in a bark against his younger adoptive brother. The boy named as Kou's way of speaking in this serious and important situation did not please him.

"Let's begin. The one who catches her, gets her."

_**Mayu P.O.V. again!**_

I wandered around in the mansion for a long time until I realized that I was definitely lost. It took like forever to find the main entrance, and when I did, the men were no longer there. I had missed my chance to meet them and now they were probably in the mansion, looking for me. Fucking perfect.  
I turned around, ready to go search for the people searching after me.

I had to run into at least one of them.

_**FINALLY DONE WITH THIS I CAN'T BELIEVE IT I FEEL LIKE I'VE COME SO FAR INTO ALL MY SHIT AND I GET SO HAPPY!**_  
_**This didn't take me all that long, did it? (Maybe because it's hella short, damn it). But isn't a prologue supposed to be short? Yeah, that's it.**_  
_**SO, NOW I NEED YOUR HELP TO KNOW WHICH MUKAMI TO WRITE FIRST! RUKI!? KOU!? YUUMA!? AZUSA!? YOU CHOOSE!**_  
_**THANKIES FOR READING MY WONDERFUL PEOPLE! **_


	2. Lies

_**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRASH KOU!**_

_**Hello, dear reader (am i being irritating yes i am sorry). I just wanted to warn you a little bit before we start. If you were looking for something where Kou would be sweet and romantic and the relationship would be fluffy, you've come to the wrong place and I recommend that you try somewhere else. If you prefer more of a hating kind of love - welcome aboard! **_

_**Kou will be slightly different (like, a bigger jerk) than he used to be because of a reason I am yet to unfold. And although they may have some sweet moments (it will be pretty mixed, I think), there will be abuse and manipulation. **_

_**So forgive me for making him into even more of a douche and thank me for warning you! I, of course, love Kou (I really do, that sinning trash) so I'm looking forward to see where this is going. **_

_**MUKAMI KOU X KAZUKA MAYU = KOYU.**_

_**RATED: M FOR LANGUAGE, FUTURE SEXUAL THEMES, ABUSE AND OH SO MUCH MORE.**_

"No way."

I stood frozen in front of the main doors, glancing nervously around as I felt a cold blaze of dread and anguish protrude throughout my body, all the way out to the very trembling fingertips. My palms felt cold and sweaty against the black skirt of my dress, but I tried to ignore that and focus on thinking about how I should continue on now.

Because the entrance hall to the Sakamaki mansion was evidently empty. There was not a single one of those guys I'd seen from earlier left, and it worried me to bits. I wouldn't want to think that they had come and gone so quickly, and during the short period of time that it took for me to get down here, and it was very possible that they were still inside the mansion. And if they had come because they'd heard a strange noise (like a blood-curling scream once or twice a night) or something along those lines, they were sure to be somewhere around still, looking for me.

I wiped my moist hands down my soft skirt, leaving traces that were a darker color than the black fabric itself, and pushed against one of the heavy, seal brown doors. It took a tiring amount of effort to get them to open, but once they did, I hurried outside to enter the big front yard.

I had never been more delighted over seeing a black limousine behind that grey marble fountain before. It meant that they, whoever had actually come, were still here and there was still a high chance for me to be noticed if I stayed close to the car until they returned. I could always go back into the mansion and maybe look around for them instead of wait, but I decided to play on safe cards and not risk anything. I couldn't afford taking any risks at this moment.

The car seemed empty, but I still wanted to check just to make sure. There were these really peculiar feelings settling in me when I walked toward it, letting my gaze trace every edge and line with giddiness. I wouldn't want to call it 'nostalgia'; since it was a lot more of a malevolent touch to it than the warm, tingling tenderness of an old, nostalgic memory. It certainly brought me back a month. The Sakamakis had driven one of these black limousines then, as well as forced me inside of it when we first met. The thought of that only made this one seem a lot more appalling.

A lot more admonishing, actually.

The car was locked, as expected, and once I'd looked through every window, I could confirm that it was doubtlessly empty. Unless there were people inside who had turned invisible like Raito were able to, but that was ridiculous even to myself after all this time.

I was in the middle of rounding the car when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I hadn't been able to distinct what it was, but there had been something moving close to the two smaller buildings to the mansion's right, and something big enough for me to catch sight of it. Curiosity took over, and I didn't see one reason strong enough to convince me of not checking it out, so I quickly hurried off toward wherever it might have been.

The two other buildings stood tall on the grass, in the same sharp khaki color as the bigger. I wandered around them in an attempt to investigate the flash of movement from earlier, avoiding going into the forest behind. If I cast an eye over my shoulder, I could still see the limousine standing exactly where I left it, but I still could barely manage the feeling of anguish encasing my mind as soon as I felt like I was too far away.

After a while, when I'd even gone as far away as behind the third little house, I let the distress inside get the best of me and figured that it was about time to get back to the car and wait patiently. Whatever that thing from before was, it obviously wasn't going to show up again-

Something small softly poked my scapula two times, and a hoarse screech made its way through my throat and out into the open, almost echoing. A soft little laugh reached my ears and I noted, without knowing how to feel about it at the moment, that I was not alone.

"Oh, I'm sorry for scaring you," a light voice quickly said when I twirled around to see whom had taken me by such shock. Things like that were certain to be dangerous for your heart. Bloody hell.

Upon seeing him, all I could do was stare. Sure, I had been looking for a person, but I'd expecting someone quite… different. It was a teenage boy, not any older than eighteen, with gold, sun-bleached locks covering one of his Columbia blue eyes. His clothes and accessories were almost as flashy as his handsome facial features. He was wearing an open pink jacket with short sleeves over a shirt with bright circles and long, black sleeves. Both of his ears were pierced, and on his long neck hung a small, blue necklace.

In almost panic, I backed up with my back against the wall. The condemning words came out before I'd reacted early enough to stop them. "Who the hell are you?"

He looked astonished by my sudden audacity, but still maintained a welcoming expression toward this rude stranger (that would be me) in front of him. "I'm a nice guy, so there's no need to be worried." He smiled in such a soft, caring way that would've made any heterosexual girl who wasn't kidnapped and caught off guard near the woods melt just by having it sink into the mind. "I came to get you."

He reached out his hand for me, and I noticed for the first time that it was furnished with many different bracelets. I didn't take it, but settled on standing pressed against the wall with a suspicious eye on the boy.

"Are you here to help me?"

He took his hand back after I said that. The silence from his side was just a tad too long for me not to worry. When I looked at him, I could clearly see some kind of confusion in his eyes that definitely sent a cold ice cube down my spine. I tried to come up with something to say, to maybe make it clearer, but what would that be? If he hadn't come to help me, why _was _he here?

"My name is Kazuka Mayu," I nervously gushed out, pausing to swallow down a lump that had gotten stuck in my throat. "I was abducted by the Sakamaki family a month ago. Please, have you come to help me?"

But then he smiled at me, that very same smile as before – if not even more heart-aching. "Well, you don't need to be scared anymore, Mayu-chan. I'm going to take you away from this place, okay?"

For the second time since we'd first met, his hand went up in the air, expecting to be met with mine. I thought it over, feeling hesitant to the idea of following an odd stranger who already felt like trouble to me. But then again, what if I did?

_(My fun hasn't even started yet.) _

What would happen then?

_(Say what a slut you are, Bitch-chan.)_

Would it really matter after all?

_(After all, I'd love to be the one to take your purity away from you.)_

_(Because you entertain me.)_

Could it get any worse than it is right now?

_(Where do you think you're going?)_

_(You're not going to run?)_

_(Aren't you going to hide?)_

My gaze moved away from the gentle-looking hand, and I cast a glimpse up at warm, smiling Kou again to be met with those kind, bright ocean eyes. Innocent, angelic eyes that only seemed to ever have witnessed happiness and good in the world. Eyes so unlike the cruel, dark emerald orbs that I'd been staring into for so long now.

I looked down at the hand again. The hand that seemed to whisper silent promises of kindness and warmth to me.

_(I will chase you.)_

And I took it.

_**Ah, yes, I changed the story today! Feel free to tell me if you think that this is better, or if you miss the old one. I can promise you that Kou will still be a lying jerk, but it will make more sense now. And yes, it was very short, so I'll try to add in the rest soon. **_

_**Well, y'all trash-people know me, you can't really trust me when I say "soon" because, whoops, suddenly five months has just passed! But I'm telling you that I'll try, okay? **_

_**I'll see you guys **__**in hell 'cause y'all sin.**___


	3. Enclosure

"What's wrong, Mayu-chan?" the stranger I'd just met asked once we were in front of the limo and just about to get in. This was due to him noticing how I had hesitated, and was now standing still in front of the black limousine – even though he'd opened to door and gestured for me to get in.

For me, deep inside, there lurked a thought that somehow had seemed to stop me from doing something I had already decided to go through with. Like the way your body won't allow you to jump into the water if you know it's cold, or if you're standing ready to jump from a really tall cliff or trampoline. Where it was as though a tall barrier inside you had appeared - with a sign that warned promises of the horrors that might just occur if you were to take the risks that a big part of you knew that you should stay away from. In my situation, it told me to remember the rule of never going with a stranger. Wasn't this what children, especially girls, were always taught and reminded of while growing up?

I knew that the "sign" wasn't particularly wrong, and that I was being ridiculous. Sure, normally hesitating to go with just some random dude you just laid your eyes on is very weird and should not be done at all, but in _this _scenario where I had already been abducted by some other stranger and didn't really actually have a choice…

The blond guy snapped his finger in the air after a few seconds of thinking, as he understood, with a bright smile playing on his lips, just what the cause must be. "Oh, that's right! You feel uncomfortable getting into a car with a stranger you don't even know the name of yet, don't you?"

I only had time to blink a bit in confusion before he, suddenly, swiftly turned me around to face him, taking my hand into his. Flashing me one of those gorgeous smiles that made him look like an angel and reminded me, once more, of how kind and good looking he seemed, he closed his eyes. He brought my hand up to his curled mouth and kissed it softly, and even shocked me a bit by how light his lips were; like feathers tickling my skin.

His eyelids slid up slowly, revealing the playful slits of blue orbs that had managed to shock me every time I laid eyes on them myself. How can someone Japanese have such blue eyes? He had closed them for maybe just three seconds, if even that, and yet it felt as if I had completely forgotten how beautiful they were (yes, how cliché but true) - and was now swept off my feet once again.

I immediately shook those thoughts away, refusing to let it show on my face as I turned my eyes away from his. Looking into them any longer would surely captivate and keep me imprisoned forever I feared, but then scolded myself for sounding so ridiculous and exaggerating. Why did I have to be so cliché? Did I read too much, perhaps? Did I watch too much fiction?

"I'm Mukami Kou," I heard him say cheerfully, and felt myself twitch at the name. "But feel free to only call me Kou if you'd like."

"Oh my God, really? Kou, as in Mabuchi Kou from Ao Haru Ride? That's nice. That's _really _nice." Kou's face took on a weird expression, but I still couldn't contain the most-definitely-uncomfortable smile creeping over my face. When I noticed how he started looking a bit creeped out by it, however, I quickly caught myself in what the hell I was doing and returned to normal. Time to suppress the love for old things now. "I'll just call you Kou, then…"

He kind of started smiling again, what a relief, and opened the car door wider to signal me that it, definitely, was time to get in now. "And I'll call you Mayu-chan."

I nodded, feeling how his smile definitely was contagious. And in the end, though the strong hesitation still circling inside my head, I got into the limousine (sat down right by the window) and took a single deep breath as I heard Kou close the door shut. I was sure that the nervousness in the back of my head only emerged from previous memories from when I was kidnapped. It had probably turned into some sort of trauma now, I thought, and my mind had decided that getting into limousines in general was not a good thing.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Although there were a total of five of us in the limousine now, none spoke. It had been a fairly quiet ride so far in the limousine and I honestly could not tell if I was the only one bothered by it or not. Everyone's faces were simply impossible to read, and I wasn't in any mood to make unnecessary guesses.

The blond guy from earlier (oh, that's right. It wasn't 'the blond guy' anymore, it was Kou) was beside me, awkwardly close. Or was he maybe normally close, but I was just overreacting because I was so used to Raito always wanting to do something disturbing if he was within one meter? There was no way I could tell.

All of the others looked pretty serious, except for one guy twiddling around with his bandages. Weird. Who were these young men anyway?

From what I had been told, by the way, they were named Ruki, Yuuma and Azusa, and had come with Kou to the mansion. They had come to help him search for and help me away from there, but for the moment, they were staring and sending weird glances my way. Is that really the way to treat a young lady in the middle of her blooming youth? Rude men.

Ignoring them, I whipped my head around only to view (to my astonishment) the woody landscape spread out in front of me, through the sun-reflective glass of the car. I could spot the lake through the dim darkness of the trees, and I shivered by how it sent a strange feeling coursing through my very limb. The smooth water lied completely still, which made it possible for parts of the surface to be covered with the reflection of even the smallest stars. I could see it clearly from the road. Almost exactly in the middle was the reflection from the moon, illuminating the entire lake into a mysterious gleam.

I had never seen it from the outside like this before, and almost couldn't help wondering if I would ever see it again.

As soon as I caught myself letting that thought slip into my mind, I hurried to cast a quick glance at Kou, whom was positioned right next to my left. It was almost as if I'd been afraid that he would somehow grasp what had just run through my mind, and now I had to check just in case he had gotten angry or was letting out a weird expression. He wasn't, of course, but was smiling ordinary. He noticed me shortly and met my stare, to which I quickly averted my eyes back to the window. Why did he make worry? Why did it seem as though he could tell everything right away from just a look?

I simply assured myself that it was just the type of feelings you would get around him – not something that was actually true –, and chose to ignore it for now.

I began to think everything through again, replaying the conversation from when Kou had startled several times. I recalled how I'd taken his hand, and he'd led me back to the car. Once I'd agreed on coming with him, Kou had picked up his phone – which I am pretty sure was the newest and most expensive model that I had ever seen – and made a call to someone that I was not allowed to listen to. I had definitely thought of it as suspicious back then, but still being very aware of what I had gotten myself into, I was not planning on backing out now no matter what. Minutes later, he introduced me to the three other people as his brothers, one after another as they arrived from inside the mansion. All of them were staring out of their own windows as well, I noted shortly.

I remembered when Kou had told me for the first time that the four of them apparently were "brothers". But even as I looked at them now and took in every one of their genuinely outstanding, handsome features, I still couldn't see any resemblance between the boys. It bothered me a little. They all had different colored hair and eyes, and I wouldn't really say that they were alike at all.

Ruki had rather short, ruffled black hair whose color drifted to a paler, almost white shade near the tips, and his narrow eyes were a mixture of dark blue and grey. He didn't come out as the very talkative person (which gave me a hard time, I'm sure he didn't like me much), but was more of a serious type.

The next man, called Yuuma I think, was tall and had a naturally mean expression with those brown eyes always looking sharp. Unlike Ruki, he had light brown hair long enough that he'd tied it into a ponytail at the back. The last one, Azusa, was of a shorter figure with dark grey strands of hair going down to his chin and eyes bearing the same color. But there was something sad glinting in his eyes that made me feel sorry for him and, like Ruki, I wasn't sure how to deal with him.

None of them were even close to the same bright, flashy appearance that Kou had with his gold locks and ocean eyes. But instead of focusing on that any further, I settled on looking outside of the car instead. I hadn't really gotten to see how it looked the first time someone drove me past this area, so this would be a good opportunity to check it out a bit. There had been that one time when Raito had taken me in his arms and flown over this area with me, but I had been only slightly busy with screaming my lunges out as I almost fell to my death then. I shuddered as I recalled the memory.

Once we finally got close to small houses along the road, and I could literally spot the tall buildings of town, I gave up on even trying to contain my wide stare. This was when it started getting real for me, and my mind really dared to embrace the fact that I was returning home. And after a while, the houses and buildings we sped past even began to feel slightly familiar. I felt myself start to grow warm in my face solemnly from the sight of them, and blinked from the way the back of my eyes stung uncomfortably. I hadn't cried in a long time, and the tugging feeling in my stomach felt unfamiliar.

I was finally going home.

I lifted my hand up to my face, pressing it against my mouth to cover the weeping that wanted to escape. I was trembling from the anticipation in my chest that was almost throbbing painfully by now, and did my best to try and cover my tears and suppress the delighted sobbing that screamed in my throat to be let loose. I was sure that Kou, who was so close that our elbows would have touched if I weren't attentive on the subject, noticed it.

Outside of the car and behind my wet tears, I could see people again walking down the streets, which made it even harder to withdraw the feelings from wanting to show. And although they weren't looking at me, I knew that they had the possibility to do so if I wanted them to. There was no Raito to hide me away from people's eyes anymore. There was no one that could keep me locked away from my mother, my sisters, my brothers, my _family_ anymore, and the painfully wonderful thought sent an elated joy to settle down in my stomach – so warm that it felt as though it would blaze me from the inside.

These jubilant feelings, however, were to be cut very short.

Still unknowing and near an internal explosion by my own bliss at the moment, I threw my hands against the windows, pressing them as hard as I could and not caring what fingerprints would be left in their place later. We were so close now; I could spot the entrance to my neighborhood, containing its pure white and yellow family houses that took up more space than actually needed with their giant green gardens – and I loved every corner and blade of grass. I stared out of the window with an expression I had never had before and didn't even know or cared about the looks of, as the thumping impatience roaring inside me grew bigger and bigger the closer we got-

But then the car sped past it, leaving the only way back to my family blurred out along other images that flashed by. I stared blankly outside as we continued to drive, my brain refusing to register what had just happened. When I finally got it together, I spun myself around on the car seat in a hurry and gave the rest of them a quick stare. Kou was the only one staring back. A wide grin was spread across his face, and he almost looked as though he'd been watching – _observing _– me. Almost.

My voice was trembling slightly as I stuttered the first few words. I tried to speak calmly though the desperate need to scream and panic was a bit overwhelming. "I'm sorry, but weren't we suppose to make a right back there? There isn't really any other way into my neighborhood."

Kou's face turned away from me, facing forward instead, and he leaned back against the seat. He was still smiling, but closed his eyes for a moment to take deep a breath. In, and out. When his eyes once again were revealed from under those heavy lids, they darted straight to me. The way his intense gaze had me spellbound sent shivers protruding down my spine. Just a minute ago, it had been tender, but now holding more of a vicious flicker. Completely immobilized, the blood inside me froze and breath was caught inside my lunges.

Something wasn't right.

"Stop the car," I said, still trying to sounds as demanding and firm as possible, but ended up quaking the words. "I'll walk from here, so just stop the car right now."

But we continued going down the street with a steady pace, if not even faster. I studied Kou's whole appearance and facial expression - which still contained that smile - after answers, or signs of what he was thinking, or anything at all that could help me understand. That could calm me down. But in the end, all I could see was that worryingly happy grin smeared over his lips. It almost seemed as if he was trying to convince me of something I could not understand, for once he realized that my anxiety wasn't going to budge, I saw a hand beginning to reach out for me.

It was almost impossible to believe it.

I rapidly hurled myself around, but had realized what was happening too late. Heart racing, I was halfway through opening the car door when I was roughly grabbed and thrown backwards inside the car. The back of my body pressed against Kou's cold chest. I was held in place while he swiftly wrapped his left arm around me, pinning my arms down against my body. My upper right arm had a painfully tight grip around it by his left hand that was sure to leave bruises. I screamed into the other.

"What's the matter, Mayu-chan?" Kou asked in a low tone, voice dangerously soft against the tangled, red strands of my hair. He laughed darkly, resting his chin on my shoulder as his sweetly spoken murmurs into my ears continued. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you just tried to get away from me."

As if to show my assent, I concurred by squirming even more violently against him, and even made a failed attempt to severely whack him with the back of my head. He easily avoided getting hurt in any way, and pressed me firmer against him easily without much effort from his side. I could hear him let out a low laugh behind me, laced with malevolence and dark intentions. He was mocking me. "And here I was thinking that we got along really well back at the Sakamakis."

I could barely breathe against the palm of Kou's freezing hand, but continued screaming nonetheless. The soft vibrations of his low giggle against my earlobe was almost distracting enough for me not to notice how the back of my eyes were sorely burning, stinging as my vision became blurry. But behind the salty tears building up in my eyes, I could spot a white house in the middle of the neighborhood and felt my blood turn cold inside my veins. I was close to stop moving completely when a brown-haired woman was vaguely seen standing by the kitchen sink inside. She appeared to be doing the dishes and nodded her head repeatedly, probably listening to music. A little boy running past caught her attention, his curly dark-red locks bouncing heavily in the air.

But just as quickly as the house had appeared, it vanished behind the walls of the car and away from sight. I had really begun crying by then, screaming and wailing even harder as my feet started throwing kicks against the car door. It was really impossible for me to kick it open, but, oh, how I wished I could've. I kicked harder, harder, _harder _against it, hitting the window in the process so many times that it almost had to be someone who noticed them on the other side. But as Kou tried to gain control of my legs, my mind seemed to be clouded by the only thought of getting out and running for my life toward that white house - that must have gotten several blocks away by now.

But that didn't matter. I wanted to see mom.

"Ssssh, Mayu," Kou whispered as he pinned me back enough for me not the reach the door, and the blood inside me froze. Even though the words came out the same way a cat would purr when stroking against your leg, there was a sharp edge at the end. "Be a good girl now."

It didn't take long before the tall buildings and houses slowly became fewer, until there rarely were any. My whole body was locked against Kou, and although it might have been useless, I couldn't stop behaving the way I was. Screaming, sobbing and crying, squirming violently against his arms, trying to kick and punch with all my might. It didn't matter how far away we had driven, if I got out of that car somehow, I would've ran all the way without stopping.

But as far as I could see from my position, there were only trees by the time my body started to really show its exhaustion. My throat had gotten dry after a while and now hurt pretty bad; I'd noticed a while ago how it started getting harder and harder to get any sound out. Every limb of me ached with spasm. I could feel my heart thumping uncomfortably high up in my chest – it almost felt as though it had moved a few inches from where it should've been. But none of that really mattered, did it? There were definitely worse problems, I though while closing my eyes and trying to force my tired body to continue squirming. Behind me, a low voice was chuckling at my weak attempts, but I paid them no attention.

My world had just ended right in front of my eyes and there I was, not even trying to deny it.

A small bump shook the car slightly, and several long, black bars of metal speeding past the round window followed suit. It didn't take long before I understood that we were pulling up the driveway when we drove past sheared bushes and plants. And, just like the Sakamaki family, they had a statue in front of their house. Except that this wasn't a house, really, I mentally noted as the tall building began to appear in sight. It was a mansion. Just another thing these people had in common with my previous abductors.

The car stopped right in front of the entrance, a grey heavy-looking door framed by two pillars made out of dark white bricks. Kou must have been too confident in the fact that we had arrived and that he had gotten his way, that he lowered his guard. As soon as I felt the arms that had been holding onto me so tightly loosen up ever so slightly, I took the chance and pushed myself forward, away from Kou. He grunted at the push and quickly attempted to grab my arm, but I swiftly managed to get the door open and stumble outside. I darted off toward the closed gates without letting one single second pass.

Behind, Kou had gotten out of the car along with his three brothers, and were now watching me. "It's useless to try and escape!" he shouted, and there was an amused taunting in his voice that made my two very tired legs sprint even faster.

Freedom could nearly be tasted. I'd managed to break away from Kou, and now was just the last part left for me to get away. Someone would find me along the way, and I would just continue running like this until someone did. I didn't really mind. I hadn't moved the way I did in such a long time. The way I sped past things in a foggy blur, breaking through the air and feeling it tug at my hair and clothes viciously. The awful shoes finally giving in to the violent jerks my legs made, falling off and allowing me to continue beating down the ground with my bare feet.

The black gate was getting closer and closer, soon within my reach. It was closed and most definitely locked for my arrival, but I was sure I could somehow manage climbing over with all that adrenaline surging through my every limb. Only maybe a second later, all of those limbs were instead aching painfully, being slammed into those very dark metal bars that I'd just reached out my hand for. I automatically let out a torn groan, which probably satisfied that asshole holding onto my arms behind my back.

"Oh, did that hurt just now?" Kou asked, holding my arms further up against my back as I suppressed the urge to cry out again. The left side of my face was giddily pressed against the wrought iron gate, and my teeth were gritted hard against each other. "You shouldn't try to run away from me. I will always just capture you eventually."

I tried to ferociously head-butt him from behind, but he just slammed my head back against the black bars, hard enough to make me wince and almost, only almost, let a whimper escape me. Behind, Kou let out something that sounded like a mix of both a sigh and a small, soft laugh. "So let's play nicely, okay, Mayu-chan?"

My head ached as Kou hauled me back toward the grey stone mansion, dragging me by both hair and arms as I kicked and screamed and tried to hold onto the ground with my every might. His three companions had already left the scene, presumably entered the building out of sheer boredom and lack of interest in what was occurring in front of them.

A pair of heavy wooden doors closed firmly before me, an enclosure stealing away a scenery of colors and scents. Replacing it with an unpleasant giddiness of encasing vulnerability.


End file.
